Intervention
by The Shadow Author
Summary: After a Girl's Night and long awaited revelation, Lanie decides that its time to stage an intervention and finally bring Kate Beckett and Richard Castle to their senses.
1. The Revelation

I own Nothing!

Kate Beckett sat on her couch, wine glass in hand, as Lanie continued to rant about Esposito's idiocity. He had done something, she couldnt remeber exactly what, and Lanie had asked for a girl's night so she could vent. Kate nodded along while falling into a daydream, eyes glazing over. She imagined Castle, in all of his nine year old glory, being the one across from her. She imagined that he would refill her glass and brush a hand over her cheek. He would say something really sweet or amazingly funny and make her laugh. It was a simple daydream, one she had had for days, ever since she had finally admitted to herself...

"Girl, are you even listening to me?" Lanie said, ulling her from her thoughts. Kate blinked before giving her friend a sheepish smile.

"Sorry Lanie, i got distracted", She said. Lanie gave her a knowing look.

"Uh Huh, Girl i know that man has captured your imagination?" She asked, taking a long sip of her wine. Kate struggled internally for a long moment. Tell her or not? Be told i told you so or scramble for a weak excuse off the top of her head? Sigh, yeah better tell her.

"Castle", she said softly, knowing she wouldnt need to say anything else. At that small exclamation Lanie spit her wine in surprise, eyes going wide. Kate patted her on the back as she chocked.

"Did you just say what i think you said?" She finally gasped out, looking up at her friend. Kate gave a small smile and nodded. She was then tackled in a hug by the excited M.E.

"When did you all finally get together?" She asked when she pulled away. Thats when Kate rolled her eyes.

"We didnt, and we wont", she said, leaning forward to grab the bottle of wine to refill her glass. Lanie's face fell.

"Then he finally told you how he felt and you all are planning the first date now?" SHe asked, crossing her arms. Again Kate shook her head. "Then what in the world has you so distracted?" Lanie asked now annoyed. Kate gave her another sheepish look.

"I admitted to myself how i felt", she said with a shrug.

"And your going to tell him", Lanie said, it was almost a question. Again Kate shook her head as she took a long draw of her drink. "And why not?"

"I thought we were here so you could vent about Javi", Kate said weakly, avoiding her friend's piercing gaze. Now she got a Lanie Look, one that always said, stop BSing me and get to the point. Kate sighed. "Because i dont want to ruin a frienship by saying something and him not feeling the same way. Because i dont want to be just another conquest. Bcause of a alot of things", she said, twirling the stem of her glass between her fingers, eyes on the carpet. She felt rediculous, childish. She felt like she was back in middle school cruching on the football player that was way out of her league. She surprised herself by having to hold back tears. She gave a small jump when she felt Lanie lean over and hug her.

"Now you listen to me. He loves you. He has from he beginning. He would never hurt you like that, not when he has already almost lost you once. He even told you he loved you. He has stuck by you for almost four years, through thick and thin. After all of that, dont you think its worth taking the chance?" Lanie ranted softly, giving her friend s shoulder a squeeze, but Kate shook her head.

"Thats the point Lanie. He has always been there. I dont want to loose him by trying for something more", Kate said with a shake of her head. She pulled away and stood, downing the last of her wine in one go.

"Kate, you need to take this chance before its to late. Ive told you before and was almost proven right. He isnt going to wait forever", Lanie said, but Kate just shook her head, Making her friend sigh.

"Are you staying over tonight?" Kate asked, changing the subject. Lanie shook her head.

"No, i need to get home and get some real sleep. Gotta be in early tomorrow", Lanie said as she stood. Kate nodded as she went to take the glasses and the last of the Wine into her kitchen. "ill see you tomorrow", Lanie called, getting a similar awnser back before she grabbed her bag and jacket and left. The moment she was out the door, Lanie pulled her phone from her pocket and sent out a mesage to a group of people.

This has gone on to long. Time to stage an intervention. She hit send knowing they would understand. With tthat done she walked off, mind reeling with plans for the next day.


	2. Traffic

_**Hey Guys! First off i want to thank you all for the reveiws. This is my first published Castle story so any critiques are a big help. After going back and looking at this last chapter i found it to be less than ideal, and so i have gone back and rewritten some of it. Thank you all again and any future reveiws are always a help!**_

_**xxx The Shadow Author**_

Back inside the apartment Kate waited until she was sure Lanie was gone before picking the wine bottle back up and taking a long draw on it, strait from the bottle. She took it with her as she made her way back into her bedroom and quickly changed into her most comfortable pajamas, finishing off the wine without much thought. The whole time her mind played back her conversation with Lanie. Was she right? Should she tell him? No, no, no. She couldnt tell him. Castle was a play boy. He was always trying to pick up anything female that breathed. She wouldnt be one of them, no matter how big of a crush she had for him, even before she met him. _But he's changed_ part of her whispered. Kate shook her head as she tossed the bottle to the side and crawled into bed. Maybe he has, but why chance it? And what if he didnt fel the same way? She sighed. She hated to admit it, but she would be heart broken. Yeah, better to cut her losses while she could. That was her last though before she drifted off to sleep.

The next day found Kate Becket striding into the Bull Pen once again. SHe didnt think twice when she didnt see Ryan or Esposito at their desks. She didnt even notice the looks everyone seemed to shoot her as they hurried by. She simply concentrated on her computer and the cursed paperwork it held. She finally looked up when Castle came up and set her coffee on the desk beside her. She smiled at him, one which he returned.

"Good morning Detective", he said casually.

"Morning Castle", she returned, picking the warm cup up and cradling it for a moment before taking a relished drink of what had become her Life Blood.

"Any grusome murders this fine morning?" He asked, eyes sparkling. SHe gave him a look, but couldnt hold back a small smile.

"Only paperwork", SHe said, making him frown in disappointment. When neither said anything else, she went back to her work, sporadically drinking her coffee and ignoring Castle stares and comments. It was almost half an hour later that Esposito and Ryan walked up, talking amongst themselves.

"Where have you two been all morning?" Castle asked, bringing the two to Beckett's attention. SHe looked up just as the two froze, looking like they had been caught red handed. When booth continued to stare, Beckett crossed her arms, giving them an expectant look.

"We were uh", Ryan started, looking to Espo for help.

"We were talking to Lanie", he finally said, giving her a cautious look. Beckett's espression fell as Castle just shrugged. She sent him a look, knowing that she couldnt ask what they had talked about without bringing up sucpicion from him. She gave the boys a warning look before going back to work. Both sighed in relief and hurried to their desks. She watched them carefully, eyes narrowing whenever they leaned in to whiser something, casting her looks the whole time. Her phone ringing finally pulled her from her reveiry. She picked it up without looking away from the two. Both ha looked up with expectant looks. She listened for a long moment as Lanie told her about some weird body she had and if she could come down and take a look. Her sucpicion grew, but she couldnt call her on it, not yet.

"Sure, ill be down in a few", she said and hung up. She stood and grabbed her jacket, concious of Castle's curious look.

"Body?" He asked hopefully, but she shook her head.

"Lanie wants me to come look at some weird case she has", she said casually. The nine year old excitment appeared as he leapt up and grabbed her jacket. She rolled her eyes with a fond smile and headed for the elevator, Castle close behind.

Beckett sighed as they were caught in traffic once again. Beside her Castle rambled on about his idea for his next Nikki Heat book. He had just gotten to his idea for an undercover Nikki chapter when the sound off screeching pulled their attention. Beckett cursed as a car, only a few spaces up from theirs, was side swipped by another car. It was the domino effect that got them. One car hit another, reaching back to theirs and slamming them backward. Beckett was thrown forward, head hitting the steering wheel. She cursed, head beginning to pound. Her ears rang, the only thing she could tell was that someone was yelling. After a long tense moment, her ears stopped ringing, but she winced as Castle continued to yell for help.

"Castle Shut up", she groaned, instantly making him stop.

"Beckett, your bleeding", he said. She rasied a hand and felt her head and jsut as he said she felt it was cover in something warm and sticky. "We need to get you to a hospital" he said, making her shake her head frantically.

"No,hospital. Lanie can take care of it. Im not going to the hospital", she growled. She couldnt go into a hospiatl without having flashbacks of her shooting. She wasn't going to go if she didnt have to.

"You're bleeding, it could be a concussion. You need to go-", but before he could finish, Beckett finally opened her eyes and looked at him, all the fear leaking through. Castle stopped and sighed. "Okay, fine, ill call Lanie, but if she says its anything serious im taking you to the hospital", he said and Beckett nodded.

"Is anyone else hurt", she asked, finally looking around. They shared a quick look before getting out, Beckett doing so with more effort than she usually needed. Castle was by her side wuickly, helping her the get her balance before letting her move down the line of cars. Keeping a close eye on her her pulled out his phone and hit speed dial five. It rang twice before she picked up.

"Castle where the hell are you?" She asked sounding annoyed. Castle began to walk, only half paying attention to the call.

"Theres been a wreck, only half a block from you. Beckett hit her head but wont go to the hospital", he informed her, hurrying up when he saw Beckett find someone stuck in their car.

"Of course she wont", Lanie said with a curse, "Im on my way, dont let her go crawling into anymore cars till i get there." Castle could only shake his head as he looked up to see her doing almost that exact thing. Quckly he hurried over and pitched in, subtly pushing her back a bit to keep her from any more heroic tricks.


	3. Trapped

five minutes later the police and ambulances showed up. another three minutes later Lanie ran up gasping for breath.

"Did you run here?" Castle asked, getting a nod as she tried to catch her breath.

"Where is she?" She finally asked. He pointed to where Kate was helping an elderly woman over to a paramedic all while arguing with one about if she needed help herself. Lanie shook her head as she all but flew towards her friend. "Kate Beckett!" Lanie called, getting her attention. The elderly lady already safely in the paremedic's care Beckett turned. At the sight of an annoyed Lanie and a smirking Castle she groaned. Lanie continued to lecture her as she waved off the hovering official and dragging her over to an empty curb. She dug through her previously unnoticed medical bag, pulling out gloves and snapping them on, beginning to look her over.

"Lanie Im Fine", Beckett insisted, but winced as the cut on her head shifted. Lanie gave her a half glare half knowing look and continued. Once the cut itself had been taken care of Lanie went on to check her for a concussion. At this point Castle moved closer so he could hear what she had to say.

"Well, no concussion, but you'll have one hell of a headache", Lanie finally said, making both Cop and Writer sigh in relief. "But i would like you to come back to the Morgue with me, just so i can make sure. I also have some pain meds for the headache", Both nodded, still relieved, though for differant reasons. Beckett was helped up and ,with a final assurance to the attending officers that she would have her own incident report in soon, they were off.

They arrived at the morgue not long later. Lanie motioned them into a seperate room rather than the acctual morgue with a muttered responce about the fumes not being good for a headache. Neither questioned it, trusting her to do what needed to be done. Instead they took in the little break room they had never known exsisted. Castle waited until Kate had taken a seat before sitting beside her on the little couch, keeping a casual space between them. They sat in an awkward silence for a long moment until Lanie came back in with a cup of water and pills along with an ice pack. Kate thanked her, downing the pills quickly before putting the ice pack to her sore head. She still had to much adreniline to really feel the injury fully, but she knew she would soon enough.

"Better?' Castle asked, big blue eyes full of worry. Kate opened her eyes, when had she closed them?, and gave him a small smile.

"Yeah, im fine", She said softly, touched that he cared so much. He studied her, not looking convinced.

"really? because you look like i feel after a night of drinking that i dont remeber", he said. Kate didnt know whether to glare or laugh. So she settled on a sigh and light shake of her head. "But seriously how are you feeling?" He asked, grin fading. She was about to awnser with an anoyed "im fine", but Lanie stopped her.

"Girl, after all these years, we both can see through that little act of yours. Awnser the man", Lanie said, arms crossed. Kate looked between the two before sighing. This wasnt a battle she was going to win.

"I have a massive headache. Im nauseus and tired", she said softly but briskly. Lanie nodded, all three of the symptoms were expected with a head injury. She turned and picked up a single small bottle, tipping out another set of pills.

"This should help with the Nausea", she said, handing them to her. She gave a grateful nod, dowing them with quickly. "anything else?" Lanie asked her, watching her closely. She shook her head. She glanced at Castle and saw that he looked convinced. Finally she nodded. "Good then we can get started." Both Cop and Writer looked at her, confused, making Lanie smile.

"what do you mean, get started?" Castle asked, confused and slightly suspicious. Kate looked on, still slightly disoriented, unsure of what was going on. Lanie only gave them a knowing smile and backed out of the room, closing the door as she went. The two shared a look, confused, though Kate was starting to get a very bad feeling. Casutiously, Castle strode forward and tried the door handle. It was locked. Both realized they had been trapped, for whatever reason. Again their eyes met, this time in exhasperation. They werent going to be leaving until Lanie and whoever else got what they wanted.

"Dun dun duuuuuuuuh."

"Castle!"

"Sorry."


	4. The first

As Castle continued to try to open the door, or convince a certain coniving ME to let them out, Kate took in the room they were now trapped in. There was two chairs, a small couch, two side tables, and a TV on the opposite wall. She studied each, looking for cameras or bugs. She had a feeling this was about her admission from the night before and getting her and Castle together, and if that was the case, they would want to watch. Suddenly the TV flicked on with a burst of static, making them both jump. Once they had both turned to look, it smoothed out to show a live video of a grinning Lanie.

"Lanie what the hell is going on?!" Kate asked, eyes narrowed. She went to stand but began to loose her balance. Castle was by her side in an instant, an arm at her elbw to steady her. She gave him a quick smile of thanks before turning to glare at her friend. Lanie's look at turned to a "are you kidding me?" look and annoyed arm cross.

"Girl, you are a detective and deffinately not stupid", she said, making Kate glare and Castle give a soft chuckle. The two stared it out for a long minute before Kate glanced away, mind coming to a definate conclusion on what this was all about. Now Lanie smiled again. "Now that that is settled, here is how this is going to go. Myself and a group of people have made a little video for you two. Since you both are so far in denial, we decided to present you our evidence. the door will stay locked until the video is over. No there is no cameras or audio equipment watching you two. complete privacy. Have fun!" Lanie ended with a bright smile and innocent look before cutting it off, ignoring Castle as he shouted out questions at the now blank screen. Kate could only shake her head and put it in her hands. Great, just great. They were going to have to sit through some kind of long embarrasing video that was trying to convince them to get together. And she could take a guess why Lanie assured them of the privacy. She groaned at the thought. Beside her she heard Castle finally give up and rub a hand over his face. She also noticed how his hand never let her elbow go.

"Think you could pick the lock?" She asked him hopefully. He thought about it for a second and shrugged.

"But what would Lanie do if we did?" He asked. She shuddered at the thought. No doubt she would resort to handcuffing them togeher or something just as drastic.

"Lets just get this over with", she finally groaned. He nodded with a look that was half dredding half something she couldnt identify. He helped her over to the couch and took a seat beside her, doing his best to leave space between them, but it was just too small. She gave him a reassuring smile before picking up the remote left on the side table and pressed play. The TV lept to life, a picture of Lanie and Esposito coming up. Both sat side by side, smiles in place.

"Yo Beckett! Castle! whats up?" He said, receiveing a smack on the arm from Lanie. He looked at her, expression sobering.

"Im not going to say much since Kate already knows my veiw on the two of you, but i will say this. Castle, Kate, you like each other. Stop with the denial and just jump each other already. its not about the bet or even about how annoyed we are with watching your little dance, but you make each other happy. Dont deny it. Kate, think about last night. I saw the sparkle in your eye. One i havent seen since i first met you. He makes you happy. And Castle, you already told her how you feel, and we all know that hasnt changed. So get on with it!" Kate blushed as Castle looked over at her, eyes wide with a hopeful look in them.

"Beckett, listen to me, just this once. Trust me on this", Espo said, a look coming onto his face she had only seen when he had helped her with her PTSD," We are your family. We have stuck by your side from the beginning. We have watched as time and again you both have denied how you felt, and hurt each other doing it. Its time to stop it, both of you. We are cops, even Castle is on some level, and we of all know that we dont have as much time alive as we would like. We sit by everyday and try to make it better, but we are the ones that see it when its to late. dont let it go until then. Take advantage of it while you can. thats all im going to say. Either way i will satnd by you, both of you, but look after youselves for once", Espositio said, showing a aprt of when very few had seen. Lanie held onto the crook of his elbow, giving him an understanding look. They smiled at each other as the video clicked off. Beckett clicked pause, needing a moment to take it in.

"Have we been that bad?" She finally asked, not looking up. She heard him sigh.

"Maybe we have", he said softly. She looked up at him and found him looking at her with a gaze so full of emotion that it chocked her up. She looked away, taking a deep breath to calm herself before pressing play again.


	5. Next!

Hey! Sorry i know its a short chapter but i had some trouble writing this one... :( but its done now! So im going to take a vote for who should be in the next video! all you have to do is review with two names and whoever gets the most votes wins! cant wait to see what you guys think!

xxx The Shadow Author

Ryan and Jenny appeared on the screen, sitting side by side and holding hands. Both had a caring look on their face.

"Hey Kate. Hey Rick", Jenny greeted kindly. Ryan nodded his own greeting with a smile.

"Hey guys. Sorry to trick you like this, but we all felt like something needed to be done. that we needed to finally present our case after almost four years of evidence", Ryan said with that knowing look of his. Beside him, Jenny gave a small smile.

"Guess i will go first?' She asked him softly, almost to soft for them to hear. Ryan nodded with a grin. Jenny turned back to the camera, face falling to a serious expression. One they had never seen before. "Kate, Rick, ever since i first met you two, you both have been great to me. You welcomed me into the family from the beginning, and i can't thank you enough. But i will say this, as an unbiased outside observer, you belong together. Its so obvious to everyone but you two. Kevin comes home at night and tells me about the things you all do or say at work and i can honestly understand why everyone is so annoyed. To sit by, day after day, for four years and watch my friends hurt each other because they are so much in denial that they won't admit how they feel would be torture for me. So do us all a favor, do yourselves a favor, and just tell each other already", Jenny's voice grew more into an annoyed rant with every word she said, ending with her looking out right concerned. Beside her, Ryan watched her with a small amused smirk and a knowing look. He squeezed her shoulder, getting her to look back up at him with an almost embarrassed smile. Their eyes met before Ryan turned to the camera, expression sobering.

"She's right you know", he said, almost sounding like he was there with them. It sounded so normal compared to their situation that it caught their attention all the more, and he seemed to know it would if his smile and laugh said anything. "When i first started dating Jenny, i was so lost, had no clue what to do. I made mistakes, said the wrong things, but she stayed with me, always gave me another chance. Sound familiar? Guys, this whole intervention thing we are doing, its because you all act, talk, and almost believe that you are a couple. Everything you do and say is the basis for the best relationship, i should know, and if you would just say it, those three little words that make up your relationship, partnership whatever, its the last step you need to be happy, and you both out of anyone deserve it." Ryan had leaned forward as he talked, hands clasped in front of him, eyes boring into them through the screen. It was a look that startled something in them both, making them both fidget where they sat. Now he sat up with a sweet smile as he returned his arm to its place around his wife.

""We'll see you both after the rest of the video", Jenny said with a kind smile. Both gave a small wave and the video cut off. Again it was paused, this time by Castle. His blue eyes bore into her, searching. He had said it, back when she had been shot. And they both knew she remembered it, but Beckett kept her gaze down, arms wrapped around her knees that were now drawn protectively to her chest. She looked almost vulnerable. He would give anything to know what she was thinking at that moment. What way would the Beckett mind go when put into a situation like this? Trapped, made vulnerable. Forced to face things she buried deep every morning. He steeled himself and took a chance, gently laying a hand on her knee. She startled a bit, and looked at it, then gave an almost nonexistent smile.

"So who's next?" She asked, still not looking at him. Now he did smile. She hadn't pushed him away!

"Let's find out", He said, and pressed play once again.


End file.
